Why isn’t my house selling?

[rootsandwings89]

Honest feedback please. We recently had a buyer pull out and after re-marketing it 6 weeks ago we still don’t have a buyer. I just don’t understand it, our house is very well priced for the area, we live walking distance to town, train station and a popular school.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/91713960proper

This, I will continue to peruse the thread for advice around tableclothes, cushion covers, straightened duvet covers, the ubiquitous plant pot advice and then someone who wants the whole shebang of new furniture and an extension

For me personally, I wouldnt touch a leasehold house, I dont like stairs in the living room but I do see you have a porch so that wouldnt be as bad.

I like a separate dining room but see you use the conservatory as one. Our conservatory is useable all year round due to an oil filled rad so you can make that work as a room with careful planning

Its a neat and tidy house but the market is rubbish and I suspect the leasehold thing is a problem, although I didnt see that on the link, only other posters comments.

Maybe if people know the area has a lot of leasehold it will be different, but for a lot of people they just exclude leasehold on the filters, so unfortunately for you the specifics don’t end up mattering much.

For me its the principle that I wouldnt want a leasehold property. I want to own the property and the land its on.

Similar houses have sold recently around the £250k mark so it's not massively over-priced. It's a presentable house with a large garden so most probably people being put off by the leasehold.

There house looks nice, obviously its not going to have large rooms as you can tell that from the outside, it's a small 3 bed semi and will appeal to people looking for that type of house, the garden is a reasonably size and the house is neatly presented, it has garage, off-road parking for at least 2 cars so all good. For me the leasehold would be a bit off putting but if its an area that has them people may expect it.

To me it’s a bit grey. I would invest in some bright cushions and throws to lift the rooms.

I’m local to the area and think the sheer number of newbuilds in congleton is impacting the market. It’s not just one estate, it’s half a dozen and probably 1000+ houses total. Most are in a higher price bracket and different part of town to yours. But with incentives the difference might not be that much and buyers who previously would have “saved” money buying your house might be willing to stretch themselves for the newer equivalent.

It's nicely decorated but the bedrooms are very small, there's only one (small) bathroom and no proper dining area. The table in the conservatory would put me off as they can be freezing in winter and boiling in summer.

I would normally rule out leaseholds due to the problems and expense I had increasing mine when I was selling my London flat. Having said that, given that the lease on this one is over 950 years it’s fine.

Not everything, some areas are seeing demand really drop off, and landlords are not piling in anymore because of legislation and it is harder to get the loans.

200k would be a better starting point, not sure you can get that now but worth a try. Don"t hang around with the price drops though, mortgage rates are going up fast.

Maybe not this thread, but I suspect on many threads those posts are a wind up, new curtains won"t shift an overpriced house.

It’s a lovely house. Perfect for a little family.

I think if your lease is over 900 years and a peppercorn then it would be worth saying that on the listing. It can’t reach people who are filtering it out but others will read that and be reassured.

Sorry….but based on the house only. It’s quite pokey and boxy with low ceilings. I mean the house itself is pleasant before no redeeming features. It’s a starter home burn or a starter price and it needs quite a bit of work. I don’t know the location but I live in a mid size east miss city and that wouldn’t get more than 220k max

The agent describes your garden as impressive but the pictures show me a lawn and a seating area and some tired looking planters.

is this inaccurate?? Because the pictures are not measuring up.

that is very very picky of me as your house is lovely and well presented. The market is crap.

It's very small, and too expensive for a small semi detached, which is basically only a 2 bed. The third 'bedroom' is virtually a closet. 5ft 10" wide. That's going to be so hard to use as a bedroom. Tiny bathroom too. 3 ft 5" wide! I don't think I have ever come across such a tiny bathroom! IMO the stairs ascending out of the living room is offputting too. The heat downstairs shoots straight upstairs, and the sound from downstairs travels upstairs too.

Congleton is nice, and that area is pleasant, but a quarter million for a small 2 bed virtual starter home (semi detached) is a lot IMO.

As has been said, it will be the price. You paid £227K for it 5 years ago, why do think it's worth £250K now? The market is not good now. You should be asking about £229K.

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The description doesn't seem to fit the pictures. It highlights how spacious it is, I did not get this impression when looking through the photos.

Flicking through each photo, each room, apart from the lounge seems very boxed in, almost like a corridor. Is this a true reflection or is it the angle of the photo?

Also leasehold even a peppercorn leasehold with the amount of years yours has left on it, would personally put me off.

These houses are often described as spacious, it's pretty obvious from the outside that it's a small semi detached so I don't know why estate agents continue with this added embellishment. Is it priced similarly to other small semis like this.

That was my first reaction, but the local stats say otherwise. All the area360 data looks great.

I think that the issue was that it was pitched slightly too high in the first place. If a property doesn't sell within the first 4 weeks then it has a very much lower chance of selling.

I'd be tempted to let it continue to list for another 4 weeks then shut it down and try again next year in spring with a more competitive marketing price to drive lots of interest.

Good luck.

Well that’s just estate agent speak, isn’t it. Every garden is delightful or impressive unless it’s an actual rubbish dump.

The garden has 2 parts to it and is quite large, I dont know how you make it more obvious that the grassy part beyond the little fence is yours too.

The market is adjusting to reality.

Starting at 200k and prepared to drop would be realistic with everything that is going on.

Still very early days. There's many houses by me still up for sale over a year later. There are always some that get snapped up quickly, but most seem to be in the market for months and months and unwilling to drop the price.